Shattered Planes Archives (Seasons 4 & 5)
Saeculum Galaxy => Tefillin => Topic started by: Ragnar the Red on January 17, 2012, 10:27:00 PM
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Suddenly in Teffling airspace there was a bright flash as a large mass of Lorcar space was teleported into the height of the atmosphere. A tattered ship fell from atmosphere, along with a powerful being and pieces of Lorcar.
Calto had been weakened by the teleportation, but he was still conscious enough to survive the decent. That it, until he hit the water and lost all consciousness. He lay there limp, unconscious, and began to sink slowly. That is, until the ship came crashing down.
The smashed bits of ship that was the Stalburfugal plummeted int the water, causing a large splash and a wave that pushed Calto floating toward the shoreline. Several crew members were severely injured on impact, but the artificial gravity had done it's trick. Most people were just bruised, as the forces of the planet's gravity did not have so great an effect. Not only that, but in most rooms the artificial gravity was changed because the automatic functions sensed a leak, and liquid flowing inside some of the rooms. The water would distribute evenly along the sides of any rooms it entered. Seeing this, most of the crew members knew it was time to evacuate. They gathered their belongings, and swam for the surface as fast as possible.
All this was in clear view of several Zarethian cities.
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"Multiple Contacts!" a radar officer calls to a female Admiral. "Uknown classification. One seems like a civilian ship, the others..." his eyes widen. "LORCAR!" he shouts.
"This is Fleet Admiral Sora to any and all ships stationed at Teffilin. Attack immanent! Multiple contacts incoming to the planet. Any and all batteries, you are to blast anything that doesnt look like one of my ships out of the sky, thats an order!" she calls over the radio.
"Roger, Admiral. Planetary Defense Batteries are online, and ready to fire." a Zarethian Officer calls through.
"Command, patch me through to Admiral Vaccon! Do ti now damnit!" she orders.
The batteries, per her orders, began to shot the Lorcar pieces out of the atmosphere, while trying to avoid the civilian ship as it crashed to the planet.
"This is Capitol Defense Command. The ship has impacted on Lake Decadea, 20 klicks to the south of the Capitol. Dispatching local HIRU and PDF Marine forces to conduct SAR, how copy Admiral?" a commander calls in.
"Hard Copy... We are awaiting orders from Admiral Vaccon for us to do otherwise. All units proceed as planned." she answers through.
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Lake Decadea, 20 kilometers south of the Zarethian Capitol City
Planet, Teffilin
1300hrs
Homeland Intervention Response Unit (HIRU)/3rd Fleet PDF Marines aka "The Countess' Gaurd"
JOINT OPERATION-Search And Rescue [SAR]
As the crew reached the beach, they were immediately greeted by guns from the dispatched forces. "Identify yourself!" a HIRU Operative orders them.
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There was a flurry of response from the thousands of ships above Tefflilin space. The civilian ships scattered and flew into hyperspace at random angles after they saw what came near them. Addler, sitting in a space station above the planet, immediately keyed in several overriding commands and the shield system blazed into life, disentagration shields, energy shields and APsi fields all went up, enclosing the entire system in a blanket of anti psychic forces.
"This is Admiral vas Vacon." A gruff, alert but tired sounding voice returned over all military comm channels. "This is the moment that we have feared, the moment that has cut into our dreams and woken us with terror gripping our pounding hearts. But fear not! For the might of the Zarethian Empire rests in your hands, the people stand behind you, hoping and praying that your skill and bravery can save them from a similar fate! Can you do this men and women of Aser? Those people below seem to think so!"
An image of several children, huddled around the Zarethian flag along with their comforting families.
"Dont let them down, for every man, women and child in known space let us put these creatures to an end right here and now! Let us show them what happens when they threaten us."
With that the screen went blank and an alert for all battlestations relayed out.
Hundreds of Zarethian frigates began to fire upon the lorcar, almost twenty five capitol and super capitols began their fusilade. And then, out of seemingly nowhere, the Prometheus blazed the Lorcar lines with magical fire, fired from its enormous cannons, streaming pulse blasts down on the invaders.
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OOC: ...They were dead anyway...
As the crew began to reach the surface, they were shocked to see all the gunfire above their heads.
"Oui gan ever atch ab byeak, gan oui?" an Iapaq asked
(We can never catch a break, can we?)
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OOC: ...Damn. What a waste of a perfectly narmy speech.
The ship was soon located and three ZPAA armored men approached the ship, weapons raised.
"Is anyone alive?" the lead sayds over intercomm.
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Ooc- lol, the HIRU units are way ahead of you zak.
As they broke the surface, they were immediately faced with the weapons of the HIRU, PDF Marines, and the ZPAA troopers.
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"Guess not," a matinace worker replied to the Iapaq as they tried to put their hands up.
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"Who are you?"Asked the leader of the troopers,awoman in red and gold power armor with a black helmet, signalling she was of moderate rank as the Zarethians put these men in cuffs. "As a precaution" They say.
OOC: good thing they're mine too:P
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Captain Ivilantar, who had just come up for air, at there breathing as all the crew turned to her. Being volunteered, she said, "We are the crew of the Stalburfugal, first exploration of the United Confederation of the Heliphlein outside the Aserical Shadow. We were attacked, and we need assistance."
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"Well see the fires in the sky? Outside the shields? Your coming here did that." The woman shook her head. "But if you've been attacked we're obliged to help." A hover vehicle bearing a white paint job and an orange circle with a blue star in the middle of it on its sides. "Get in and you will be cared for and debriefed."
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The chubby Heliphlein science officer was the first one in. The others started muttering to themselves, and Lanq piped in, "One of our guys was outside the ship when we crashed. Can you search for him on the shoreline?"
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"Already on it" a Hiru officer spoke up. "1st platoon is conducting SAR operations on the lake, per the Capitol Command's orders"
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They began piling into the hover vehicle.
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After they had piled into the vehicle, a HIRU Officer accompanied them as well. He took his seat next to the Captain, and had his sidearm ready. "Commander Tarkov, Zarethian Homeland Intervention Response Unit." he holds out his hand to the Captain. "Sorry about the guns... We are one high alert seeing as there is a bit of an Executive crisis happening, and adding on to that was the Lorcar remains. We can never be too careful." the Officer informed them.
"I believe that you re going to be debriefed by the Commander of the Fleet you put on alert... She isnt entirely happy though, so you may have to deal with one of her subordinates."
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"Is that a good or bad?" Ivilantar asked.
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Tarvok drew back his hand after seeing that the Captain wasnt going to shake it. "Fleet Admiral Sora, the Commander of the Third Zarethian Fleet, is a very, very, very intimidating woman. For your sake, you better hope and pray that you get one of her subordinates... " his eyes get wide with a slight sense of fear.
"But, seeing as it was unintentional, and that you were attacked, ect, she'll probably take it easy. So, take it easy Captain..." the Commander said and leaned back in the seat.
The car continued on to a Military Installation near the Capitol Building. "Capitol Command, this is HIRU Agent, Tarkov. Convoy is approaching HIGHCOM HQ. How copy?" Tarkov reports in.
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"We copy, Tarkov. Proceed as no- Wait, scratch that, over." The man said, pausing in the middle of his sentence as if he was interrupted. "Tarkov, you'rebeing ordered to report to the Rapture base, over."
In the hover vehicle the light indicating their destination was changed to a distant, mountainous region holding the most secretive of the Zarethian Government facilities where no HIRU agent has been, where very few people have been;a place held in local legend as a somewhere people go before they disapear.
The driver paled and turned the vehicle around.
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"What's going on?" Ivilantar asked.
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Tarkov held on tight as the limo swung around. "Apparently, someone with enough pull to override a HIRU operation is wanting to see you all in a not so public place..." He looks at the blackened out windows.
"My guess is a 5 star, Vaccon, or some councillors... We'll see soon enough though."
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Ivilantar turned and looked into the trees as they passed.
"What are the Lorcar?" Olix asked.
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"The Lorcar are a parasitic race that destroyed our original home long ago. Locusts..." Tarvok explained and slightly shivered. The car stopped for a brief moment before the driver asks Tarkov to hand over his ID. He does so. The driver talks to what seemed to be a gaurd station for a brief second, and handed it back to him.
"Commander..." the driver calls back to him. "Welcome to Rapture."
(OOC-Bioshock ref FTW!!!!)
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"That's definately what attacked us," the pilot said, partly to himself.
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The guard lead the group through a small, dark passageway and ushered them into a spherical bubble. "Prepare to submerge." He said, grinning slightly as the lights dimmed and left his face covered slightly in shadow. The bubblemobile jumped as it started and the glass showed the etched rock, laced with gold and silver light emanating from the rock. The lights clearly shown in the form of letters spelling "RAPTURE".
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Tarkov stood in the front of the bubbling at ease, as he watched out. "My god..."
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The Heliphlein were amazed by this, but then again they were amazed by Tefillin to begin with. Well, except Laniq, who asked, "Did you seriously leave Calto behind?"
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The opening revealed a small city hidden deep under the mountain. In the background, they could see machines establishing pillars and excavating new areas. The city was gray and unimpressive, made of the same rock that the bots were excavating from the scene.
"Come now, if there is anyone else they'll be transported here immediately." The guard said, gesturing grandiosely to the city. "Welcome to Rapture."
The floor beneath them began to move forward and they were brought into the main building bearing the 'R' in large golden letters.
Whilst inside the man got off with a bow and they were inside a large room with several chairs facing a elevated platform.
"Please sit."
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Tarkov simply shook his head and moved to parade rest.
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Ivilantar looked around, impressed by this subterranean city. Though it wasn't anything beautiful, it was made with greater precision than any Crfulbngr city she'd ever seen. To show respect to this new nation, she sat down, and the rest of the crew members followed her example.
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"Thank you." The voice said from the darkness as white light illuminated the room, revealing a man, face shrouded in darkness, figure cut out in black and white, holding a golf club. The man swung the club, sending the little white ball bounding off the platform and falling neatly into the hole at Ivilantar's feet.
The man walked out of the white light and closer to the group, sitting on a comfortable looking wooden chair. "Im sure you've all been told this more then once and, forgive me for the redundancy but let me welcome you to Rapture." He said, taking out a small silver box and sliding a black tube out before he lit the end on fire and began puffing away.
"Now, you may not know what this facility is for but let me enlighten you. You are in the Zarethian Empire's most treasured military facility. But tell me, do you know why you're here?" He said, breathing out a cloud of white smoke.
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"We're on this planet because of Calto's torment spike," Ivilantar said. "Beyond that we know next to nothing."
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The man looked at them calculatingly. "I see. Would you mind explaining this... Torment spike? And where is this Calto? We need to thank him for keeping our military on its game." He scanned the group.
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Ivilantar thought for a second, wondering how to explain it. "Magic in our race is based on emotion, and... Calto has a rare emotional ability that is very powerful and very... volatile. Thinking about his wife can turn him into a magical ball of destruction and... I'm not sure what exactly happened, but he teleported us here. As for where he is, we don't know. He was outside the ship when we crashed."
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The man nodded. "Soldiers will be sent to look for your... compatriot." He said, blowing another ring of smoke. "Now, tell me how you came to be here."
Soldiers scoured the debris, looking for Calto.
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"Sir." Tarkov speaks up. "Who are you."
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The man brought his attention to Tarkov for the first time. "Ah, agent Tarkov. HIRU, if I'm not mistaken. I assure you, that seat isnt about to explode, you know." He said, a hint of a smile.
"As for your question... I am a man of many titles, many names, all of which are trivial. All that matters is the power over each and every person's life on this planet, in this empire. "
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"You sound like Director Hermitage." Tarkov smirks. "Which agency is this facility under? This is definitely not a Hand Facility."
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"Ah, your powers of intuition are as surprising as they come." The man chuckled. "No, it is not under Hand jurisdiction, nor is it known to any other agency except by childish rumors regarding our 'paranoid security'." He put his smoke out in his chairs small container. "If you can guess who I am, then you can guess what this is."
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"Well seeing as this doesn't look like a covert operations base, youre not SOCOM. You're not in the Intelligence Community. So, the only thing i can think of is..." He pauses. "SEAGATE. You're Codename: SEAGATE. Aren't you." Tarkov's eyes narrow. "Shouldve known you would go against a HIRU directive and piss of the Lady Admiral."
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"Seagate? You think that this?" He gestures around him expansively. "Is something those buffoons at SEAGATE could get authorized?" He shook his head. "Your Admiral Sora holds the power of the Fifth Fleet, yes? I control her power. I could press a button, say the word, and she would be demoted to little more then a basic crewman. The Council?" He let out a booming laugh. "They are little more then figure heads, as is the Senate. All useful, all very much useful but ultimately pawns in a much larger game." He paused to light another smoke.
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"Why am I here?" Tarkov demands. "Why are these civilians here?" He points to the crew.
(OOC- It's th Third fleet, lol.
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"You are here to escort them, of course. You are their, forgive the expression "Tour Guide"." He smiled. "They are here to be debriefed in order to get information about the location of the Lorcar."
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"That is the Hand's, and the Homeland Intervention Response Unit's job." Tarkov says in a more aggravated tone. He eventually calms himself and sighs. "Do you have a satellite phone? I need to call this isnt Rear Admiral Fontaine."
OOC: Bioshock refs out da A.
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"Fonaine has no authority over me, Rapture is a secure facility. I own Rapture. All lines that arent secure are blocked." He taps his chair. "You, Agent Tarkov, are here for the remainder. I have overrided HIRU's orders because I can. Because I have the ultimate authoritative power. Everyone does as I say without knowing it. Pawns, rooks, queens, kings, bishops and knights in the big games of the galaxy."
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"I assure you, Mr. whoever you are. I am not a pawn of anybody." Tarkov takes a step towards him.
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"You're not?" He grinned. "So, you were not diverted here on my orders? You did not take orders from your superiors in basic training in order to become part of a whole unit in order to accomplish HIRU's mission? How do you know that everything you've done from the very beginning hasnt been because someone else allowed it. Your parents, the government and so on and so forth."
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"And who would that be, Mr... Outside, can i call you Mr. Outside?"
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He nodded. "I'll add it to my list of aliases."
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"Well then Mr. Outside. I am an Agent of the Council's Hand. The only person that i have, or ever will be loyal to, is the Director. Not you, your Shadow Govenrment, or anybody else. I will not be described as a pawn, in your delusion of a galactic chess game."
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"Ah but my young Tarkov, you don't understand do you? Anyone who works for another's goal is simply a pawn. You're a pawn, the Council, the Hand, even I. We're all pawns in the game of galactic morality and conquest. Choose your side or it will be chosen for you and believe me, the one thing you dont want is a delusion of freedom."
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"That's flawed... Every game has their King. If we are all pawns, and there is no king to control them, then the game would go into chaos. So, please explain this to me."
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"The 'kings' of the game may well be the morality that men, women, children, machines and so on and so forth, apply. Whether they are good or evil, for example. The universes are governed by laws of physics, of matter, of heat and magic but also of morality. And morality is the only one that has followers, supporters, even if they dont realize it. Those that do good, whether it be for the sake of the greater good, for others or anything else... And those that do evil for whatever reason that may be. Now, its not nearly as black and white as that but you can see the general picture and I assure you that this is no delusion or philosophical dilemma."
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Jemry (at least I think that's what I named him) sat up and said, "If you're looking for where we faced the swarm, our ship has a sort of... GPS that could lead you to where they are."
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Tarkov turns to them with his fists still clinched, ready to knock Mr. Outside out. "Perfect. My team probably already salvaged your black box and Nav system."
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"Let's hope they got to it pretty quick. The windows cracked on impact and I don't think the equipment on the inside will stand up against water damage," Jemry added.
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"I would like you explain your situation. How did you come upon this system? Was it by mere chance by exploration? Also, what empire or faction are you affiliated with?" He asked, tapping the chair/
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Ivilantar looked him in the eye, or at least where she thought his eye would be amongst the shadows, and said, "I am Captain Yealina Ivilantar of the United Confederation of the Heliphlein. We were embarking on our first exploratory mission outside of the Aserical Shadow. The moment we were past it we were in the middle of an asteroid field full of those... Arachnids. The ones you called the Lorcar. We were attacked, and I'm not sure how, but Calto was ejected from the ship while in a torment fit. He caused widespread damage, and nearly destroyed our ship. He then teleported us here, and we crashed. You know the rest."
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The man nodded and pondered this thought for a moment. "I'm sure your government would be appreciative to find a friendly empire outside of its... "Aserical shadow" as you call it. Im guessing that is some sort of protective field, yes?"
He nodded to himself. "Tarkov, if you'll see to these brave men and women get some good rooms and get rested. We'll see that they are returned as soon as possible."
With that, the chair turned around and a light began to emanate from a ways off as his chair began to gravitate towards it.
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"I wouldn't say it's a protective field," Ivilantar said. "It really is a shadow around our planet. You cannot see a thing outside it when inside or inside when out."
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"Right." Tarkov answers Outside. "I'll check around for some place we could house them."
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They began to move backwards, out of the room. Why? Because the floor had begun to move backwards, back into the hallway and beyond. In fact, they were transported back into the bubble this way, with the same guard who welcomed them still waiting.
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The Heliphlein looked around as the world around them moved. Is that it? many of them thought.
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"Going so soon?" Asked the guard, grinning under his helmet. His wrist commicator beeped and he looked down at it then started the lift, sending them back to the surface.
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As they moved backwards out of the room, Tarkov spoke up "Mr. Outside, for your sake, lets hope we don't have to meet again anytime soon."
When they meet the guard once more, Tarkov turns to the Helipheins. "Ive made arrangements for your men at a hotel. Additionally, Admiral Sora would still like to meet with you all... unofficially."
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The lift brought them back to the surface and transferred them out of the mountainside, right back to where their hovercar was, still waiting for them.
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OOC: Where's Calto?
"Thank you," Ivilantar said, slightly unsure if this would all be going downhill again soon.
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OOC: I thought he was on Helios?
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They are led into the car, and it immediately pulls off towards the Capital. Almost after they had started friving, Tarkov's radio started to go off. "SAR team 1, nothing found... Wait. Ma'am, we got something! Scanner reads, IFF Confirmed. Zarethian Hand Personal, Commander Andrie Tarkov. HIRU." The radio goes off.
"Where?" A female voice calls in.
Tarkov picks up. "This is Agent Tarkov of the Zarethian Hand. Currently transporting several HVTs to the Capital. " he responded as if they hadn't dropped off the face of the planet.
"Commander, where were you! You better have a good explanation!" The female voice came roaring back.
"Sorry Ma'am... It's Classified." He answered reluctantly.
"Agent, this is Fleet Admiral..." She started, but was stopped.
"I'm sorry Ma'am.. its over yours and my head. The HVTs will arrive at your residence shortly. Tarkov, out."
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OOC: NOOO!!!!!! He was in the ship and last I knew he was on the shore, unconsious, and being taken by Zarethians.
Ivilantar sat for a second, then asked, "What's going on?"
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OOC: ._. okay
Calto was found by the Zarethians and revificated then brought before Mr. Outside, alone.
"Are you Calto?" Mr. Outside's quiet voice said from his shadowy chair.
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"Just catching flak from your new host..." he says and sits back. "You all will be staying with Fleet Admiral Aki Sora, at her estate. At her own request."
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OOC: Are Maxis and Aki still together?
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OOC: Of course.
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OOC: loooooooool this should be good
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OOC: My point. We needs some comic relief.
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"That's not what I mean," Ivilantar said. "Everything that just happened was classified. What is going on?"
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Tarkov nods. "Yes. Everything you just saw is highly classified. You are not to breath a word of this to anyone." he informs them. After several minutes of riding, the car stops and the driver rolls down the barrier. "Agent, we're here." he tells him.
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Ivilantar shot Tarkov an angry look.
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They are greeted by a slightly perturbed looking Maxis who knocked on the door. "So you're the guests?" He asked, his electronically blue eyes peering in at them with both curiosity and annoyance. "Come on then." The says, opening the door and waiting for them to file out.
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Ivilantar hesitated, but after Olix jumped ahead exclaiming, "Yes! A real bed and not just a cheap cot!"
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Tarkov stepped out and saluted Maxis. "Commander Tarkov, Homeland Intervention Response Unit, and agent of the Zarethian Hand, sir." he says. "Rear Admiral Maxis i presume?"
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Maxis returned the salute. "Good to meet you, Tarkov and yes, I am Admiral Maxis. Now, why don't you come inside as well, I'm sure Aki would be more then happy to add the number of house guests we'll be taking care of." He said sardonically., turning slightly and leading them all into the house.
"We'll both be very interested into what trouble you've gotten yourselves into at this point."
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They walked into the house.
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Maxis escorted them all through the doorway of Aki's apartment. "Welcome to the good life." He said sardonically, stopping finally in the finely furbished living room. "Aki is around here somewhere..." He muttered, looking around. "Aki They're here!" He called.
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Ivilantar walks in, and the giant mass of crew mates follow her into the apartment. There is little room.
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Aki walks out of a suspiciously large pair of doors. This place was bigger than it seemed. "Thanks Maxis" she said to him and stood by his side. Aki was wearing her typical Class-B uniform, but it seemed to highlight her features. "Hello everyone, I am Fleet Admiral Sora, commander of the Third Fleet, and welcome to my home." She said with a smile.
She noticed Tarkov in the crowd, and clenched her teeth. "I take it that Commander Tarkov has treated you all nicely?" her eyes dart to him and then back at the Captain.
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Maxis nodded. "No problem, Aki." he said, pecking her on the cheek and going through the doors in order to get out of his starchy military uniform.
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Ooc- for reference, only the command staff is staying with Aki. The rest of the crew are held up in some Hotels.
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OOC: Oh, okay
"It could be seen that way," Ivilantar responded.
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"Good, good." She looks around. "Im sorry, but we wont have enough time to show you around, this place is kinda big, but we will show you to your quarters." she does a quick 180 pivot on her heels. "Commander, please check on Admiral Maxis will you?"
"Yes ma'am" he replied and went off to find him.
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Ivilantarbegan to walk forward, following Aki. As the other head crewmembers began to stride forward as well, Olix turned to Jemry and whispered in referance to Aki, "She's kind of hot."
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Ooc- is it okay if i skip it to later in the night?
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OOC: WHAAAT?! SKIP TO THE NIGHT?! Sure, go ahead.
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OOC: You just go whenever you're ready
Meanwhile Calto was in a deep sleep. He could swear he saw something, but what it could be he had no idea. Two young beings were on their knees while another held up a silver sword. Was it a horrid villain scouring at his failing henchmen? No... Was it a upright officer of the law about to execute two great criminals? No... Whatever it was, Calto could sense that there was a great meaning behind it. Something was off. Why did it feel so familiar?
Calto stirred in his sleep, his crew mates not knowing what the Zarethians had done with him.